RICHMOND, July 25-Virginia's housing authority will provide low-interest mortgages to gay couples and other singles living together, abandoning a one-of-a-kind lending policy that limited such help to married couples and single people living alone, commissioners decided today.

The unanimous decision by the Virginia Housing Development Authority was immediately denounced by religious, conservative and family organizations as an assault on marriage and a cave-in to a gay-rights agenda. They vowed to reverse the decision in the General Assembly this winter.

"The Governor's pro-homosexual agenda is clear, and it has nothing to do with sound business practices," a statement by the Family Foundation said. "Instead, he is lending his political capital to a risky mortgage on the future of Virginia families."